Cato's POV
by hdfusions007
Summary: Cato's POV of the 74th Hunger Games, if he had won. It begins at the finale of the Games.


I silently traverse through the piney woods, keeping a sharp lookout for the District 12 tributes. It's a massive arena and there's only 3 of us left. The Gamemakers will no doubt use some kind of device to draw us together. That's when I notice the sky immediately darken, and I hear a distant howl of a muttation. Of course. It's the finale. I grip my spear tightly and continue the path to the Cornucopia, where the only source of water remains. Just as I'm breaking into a clearing of the forest, a massive, snarling wolf mutt lunges towards me from a clump of bushes. It takes me by surprise and rakes my chest, but the flesh-colored body armor provided in my backpack from the feast protects me from its razor sharp claws. I flawlessly drive my spear into its back and it lets out a terrible, screeching cry. I whip out a knife from my belt and silence it, but I hear multiple wolf mutts return a howl, and they're nearby. Without another thought, I drop my spear and launch into a full-out sprint towards the Cornucopia, where I can climb up the horn to safety. As I'm running, I hear the mutts and glance back, horrified to see a pack of at least fifteen of them trampling through the woods. I burst through a wall of ivy and I am startled yet again by Loverboy and Fire Girl. Katniss rapidly loads an arrow and sends it towards my heart, but it harmlessly falls to the side.

"He's got some kind of body armor!" I hear Katniss yell. I don't stop to try and direct Katniss and Peeta into the mutts, as I could get killed in the process before them. Instead, I slip right past them and continue barreling towards the Cornucopia, hoping the mutts will just finish them off. Years of training at the academy in District 2, I guess, allows me to continue my all-out sprint, but my limbs are screaming for a break. I reach the Cornucopia, grip the sun-softened metal, haul myself up, and lie there, gasping for breath and gagging over the edge of the horn. I am completely winded. "_You get two minutes," _I think. "_Two minutes to recover." _To my dismay, I hear the pack of mutts approaching the Cornucopia. But someone's climbing up to join me. Katniss. She loads an arrow into her bow and I turn myself around so she can't shoot my face, the only unprotected place on my body. But then Peeta cries out for help and Katniss turns her attention towards him. I grin, remembering how I slashed Peeta's leg. There's no way he'll be able to outpace the mutts on that leg and climb up the horn, if he hasn't been mauled already. I want to simply shove Katniss over the side to her death, but I'm doubled over with cramps. I wait for Peeta's cannon, but it does not sound. I cough out a question, hoping to distract Katniss, and it works.

"What?" she asks.

"He said, can they climb it?" answers Peeta. After thirty more seconds, my breathing is slowing and I know I'll soon be able to hurl Katniss over the side. Katniss and Peeta continue to struggle, trying to get him over the horn to safety. He's only just placed his feet on the metal when I jerk his body away and place him in a headlock, cutting off his breathing. His hands are clawing at my arm, but he's very weak and blood is spewing from a gaping hole a mutt left in his leg. Katniss has her bow pointed at my face, but she doesn't shoot.

I just snicker. "Shoot me and he goes down with me." We stand there in a stalemate for several more seconds. Katniss's arms and her bow are rigid with tension, as stiff as stone. I notice Peeta's lips turning blue from asphyxiation. Maybe, if I kill him, I can use his body as a shield and shove Katniss and Peeta's body over the edge. I reach this conclusion and grin. I don't wait a second longer. I masterfully jerk Peeta's head to the side and hear the crack of his neck. Weight leaves his form and I carry his body in front of my head and ram into Katniss. She gives a shriek and attempts to shoot an arrow, but it simply buries itself into Peeta's chest. Then they're both falling over the side, Peeta's body uselessly sliding down the edge of the blood-slick metal of the Cornucopia. Katniss gets up to her feet to save herself, but a mutt launches itself at her and she loses her footing. It's a bloodbath from there. I hear Katniss' screams as the mutts tear her body apart. "_The hovercraft will have to come down a few times to clean that mess up," _I think viciously. The cannon fires twice to signify the end of District 12's run in the Games. The trumpets blow and Claudius Templesmith announces my victory. A hovercraft materializes, collects the bodies of Katniss and Peeta, and then a ladder comes down to pick me up from the arena. I feel ecstatic, happy beyond belief of my victory of the 74th Hunger Games. District 2 hasn't had a victor for 7 years, the longest drought in District history. I can't wait to arrive back to District 2 as a celebrity and move in to the Victor's Village with Brutus, Enobaria, Lyme, and all the other victors from my District. But then I remember. Clove. She was my closest friend back when we trained at the academy. I'm slightly saddened when I think of Clove's death in the arena, but not for very long. We both knew what we were getting into when we decided to volunteer at the reaping.


End file.
